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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE 

SUNRISE, NOONDAY, AND SUNSET 

OF 

THE DAY OF GRACE. 



THE 



SUNRISE, NOONDAY, AND SUNSET 



OF 



THE DAY OF GRACE. 



BY 

HENRY M. BOOTH, D.D., 

PASTOR OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ENGLEWOOD, N. J. 



V-C&%fes 



>**<f\ / 






NEW YORK: 



ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH AND COMPANY, 
38 West Twenty-Third Street. 



V* 



CONTENTS. 

♦— 

Page 

Sunrise II 

Noonday 37 

Sunset 63 



SUNRISE. 



And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the 
child. — i Samuel iii. 8. 



SUNRISE. 



THE child was Samuel. His parents 
had placed him in the tabernacle at 
Shiloh. From his birth he had been set 
apart to the service of the Lord. When 
he began his sacred duties he was a little 
boy. Girded with a linen ephod, he was 
permitted to assist the priests in their daily- 
ministrations. His was the light work of 
the sanctuary. There was a recognition 
of his ability to do something in the sacred 
tent. He was not turned away because he 
was a child. The high-priest became in- 
terested in his growth and education; he 
" was in favor both with the Lord, and also 
with men." With conscientious fidelity 
and with a cheerful zeal he won his way 
to general popularity. Religion is not re- 
pulsive. When the Sun of Righteousness 



12 The Sunrise 

lights up the soul, there should be evi- 
dences of that gracious Presence in the 
beauty of the countenance as well as in 
the activity of the hands and feet. A 
God-fearing child is not expected to have 
the manners of a sedate man. Genial, 
honest play is just as commendable in its 
season as self-sacrificing work is in its own 
time. The Divine Eyes look for that which 
is natural and spontaneous, rather than for 
that which is forced and constrained. When 
the compassionate Saviour invited the little 
children to come unto him, he had no 
thought of robbing them of their childhood 
with 'its happiness ; he wished only to add 
his blessing to the many blessings which 
were already theirs. 

While Samuel was still a learner in the 
service of the Lord he was conscious of a 
strange call which reached him as the night 
was closing and the day was about to break. 
It aroused him from his sleep: his own 
name was audible. Instantly suspecting 
that the aged Eli was requiring his pres- 
ence, he arose and reported himself. But 
the high-priest had not spoken ; he knew 



of the Day of Grace. 13 

nothing of the nature or quality of the 
voice which had been heard. By his ad- 
vice the boy went back to his bed. There 
he must have waited eagerly for a repe- 
tition of the unearthly sound. Children 
must not be expected to recognize the first 
intimation of a divine influence in their 
souls. Yet when that influence is felt, it 
is impossible that the soul should be dull 
and listless and indifferent. A second time 
the name of Samuel was audible, and a 
second time the high-priest was aroused 
by his faithful assistant. But still his mind 
did not grasp the situation. He referred 
the calls to the fancy, or the dream of 
childhood. He was not quick to detect 
the interest of God. But when for the 
third time he found Samuel at his side, 
and when he heard the urgent appeal of 
the boy, Eli, somewhat experienced in the 
methods of Providence, recognized the pro- 
found significance of the voice. He " per- 
ceived that the Lord had called the child. " 
A revelation was evidently about to be 
made, and Samuel was to be its recipient. 
Quietly and reverently he told him just 



14 The Sunrise 

what he should do, and then waited anx- 
iously to learn the meaning of the 
communication. 

The familiar story, as we are to use it, 
opens a subject which every friend of chil- 
dren must love to consider. An old man 
believes that a child has been called of 
God. An ordained minister of religion — 
the high-priest of the Hebrews — welcomes 
a little boy as the messenger of the Lord. 
That is all. But is not that enough to 
start very earnest and serious thought? 
The child whom God calls is not to be 
neglected ; is not to be kept at a distance ; 
is not to be disparaged. In his visible 
kingdom there should be a prompt and 
cordial welcome for every such child; and 
the nurture of the household of faith should 
be directed towards the maintenance and 
the development of the responsive faith of 
children. Let us surrender ourselves to the 
leadership of this thought, as we propose, 
and consider the three practical questions : 
Does the Lord still call children; unto 
what does he call them ; and how shall it 
be known that they have been called ? 



of the Day of Grace. 1 5 

Does the Lord still call children? There 
are many instances of the divine call in the 
records of the Bible. The Lord's interest 
in and welcome to children is frequently 
mentioned by the writers of the Old and 
the New Testaments. Several notable char- 
acters, like David and Josiah, like John 
the Baptist and Timothy, were selected in 
childhood for a great and important life- 
work, and were then trained under espe- 
cial and providential influences. Even 
where a distinct call to service was not 
given in early life, there are most satisfac- 
tory evidences in many cases that the 
hand of the Lord was shaping the disci- 
pline of home and school to prepare a use- 
ful career. Saul of Tarsus was called into 
the apostleship of the Christian Church 
when as yet the Church had not been or- 
ganized. But the training of the young 
Pharisee by Gamaliel was the most com- 
plete equipment that could have been 
given for the service which after years 
were to witness in the labors of Paul. 

Such divine watchfulness is not to be 
limited, however, to Bible times. He who 



1 6 The Sunrise 

is " the same yesterday and to-day and 
forever " has not lost his interest in child- 
hood. His voice has been heard, and has 
been heard constantly, in every century. 
He has told us that the early years of life 
are the hopeful years ; that character is 
formed in youth; that there is danger 
of losing all concern for sacred things if 
first impressions are disregarded ; that it 
is possible to grow up into a knowledge 
of holiness under gracious influences ; that 
the divine attitude is represented by the 
Redeemer when he extends his arms and 
clasps little children to his bosom. The 
invitation is to children, the promise is 
to children. The Church of our Lord 
Jesus Christ is not behind the Church of 
the older dispensation in providing a wel- 
come for children. Their piety is ap- 
preciated, their service is approved, their 
happy, hopeful lives are the joy of many 
devout souls. Unnumbered multitudes of 
children have responded to the call of the 
Lord, have witnessed a good confession, 
haVe reached Christian maturity, have 
died in a ripe old age, with a comfortable 



of the Day of Grace. 1 7 

hope of enjoying the felicity of heaven. 
If you should strike from the roll of the 
Christian Church every name that was en- 
tered in childhood, you would leave for 
recognition the merest fragment of the 
Lord's host. Some years ago the inquiry 
as to the age at conversion was made in a 
conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church ; and it appeared that of one hun- 
dred and forty-nine ministers who reported, 
the average age at conversion was fifteen 
and three fifths years, and about one sixth 
of the number were converted when less 
than twelve years of age. In a revival 
which occurred in the State of Virginia it 
was found that there were seventy-nine 
converts from ten to twenty years old ; 
forty-eight from twenty to thirty ; sixteen 
from thirty to forty ; fifteen from forty to 
fifty; seven from fifty to sixty; four from 
sixty to seventy ; and one from seventy to 
eighty. And every pastor of experience 
who has been permitted to welcome chil- 
dren to the table of our Lord will bear 
witness to the fidelity of these youthful 
converts. With few exceptions, they do 



1 3 The Sunrise 

better, they give less anxiety, than older 
converts do. At this very hour, in homes, 
in Sabbath-schools, in sanctuaries, and in 
mission-stations, the call of the Lord is 
heard by children. They are taught that 
the Lord wants them. They are urged to 
give themselves up to him. Religion is 
made attractive. God's service is pre- 
sented as the grandest pursuit of life. The 
belief is influential that it is better to sow 
and to reap wheat and corn than it is to 
leave the fields to be covered with " wild 
oats." If Christ does not fill the youthful 
heart, the devil will surely find room 
there. Pre-occupancy is the best moral 
safeguard. Send a young life out into 
the world with a positive love of virtue, 
and vice will make few conquests ; send a 
young life out into the world with a posi- 
tive love of grace, and there will be little 
opportunity for sin to make its appeals. 
This is the wisdom of experience. Men 
have learned this truth after much hard- 
ship and after many disappointments. 
Education has this reference. The en- 
deavor is constant to provide against the 



of the Day of Grace. 19 

evil day. Is it to be supposed that the 
Lord God is less wise than man? Is it to 
be supposed that he who watches the spar- 
row's flight, that he who hears the young 
raven's cry, that he who clothes the grass 
of the field, that he who even numbers 
the hairs of the head, that he fails to call 
children into the kingdom of his own dear 
Son? No. When we have his character 
to assure us, when we have his word to 
inform us, when we have the history of 
his Church to confirm our belief, we can- 
not hesitate to recognize the call of the 
Lord as addressed to little children. 

In the standards of the Presbyterian 
Church this precious truth has great 
prominence. " All children born within 
the pale of the visible Church, " says the 
Book of Discipline, " are members of the 
Church, are to be baptized, are under 
the care of the Church, and subject to its 
government and discipline ; and when they 
have arrived at years of discretion they 
are bound to perform all the duties of 
Church members'' (chapter i. sec. 5). The 
Directory for Worship (chapter ix. sec. 21) 



20 The Sunrise 

repeats and amplifies these plain statements, 
and then adds that " the years of discre- 
tion in young Christians cannot be pre- 
cisely fixed. This must be left to the 
prudence of the eldership. The officers 
of the Church are the judges of the quali- 
fications of those to be admitted to seal- 
ing ordinances, and of the time when it 
is proper to admit young Christians to 
them." 

Unto what does the Lord call cliildren? 
The life of the Earl of Shaftesbury touched 
most of the reformatory, philanthropic, 
and Christian endeavors of the present 
century. He was certainly a great and a 
good man. His ancestors were illustrious 
noblemen, but no one of them was remark- 
able for godliness. They were men of 
the world, who found their portion in this 
life. The Earl, however, — whose recent 
death has made his life a subject of re- 
view, — was called in childhood to the 
usefulness which gave to him such dis- 
tinguished pre-eminence. Somewhat ne- 
glected by his parents, he became the 
especial charge of a godly nurse, whose 



of the Day of Grace. 21 

devotion to her Saviour secured its fruit- 
age in the accomplishments of the Earl. 
Thus she became God's messenger, through 
whom his call reached this young soul. 
Then, while still a youth, this sensitive na- 
ture was brought into sharp and decisive 
contact with a spectacle of unusual degra- 
dation when he witnessed the drunkenness 
of certain base fellows who were carry- 
ing the lifeless body of a comrade to the 
grave. Again — and now clearly and em- 
phatically — God's call reached him. His 
entire life was outlined. He surrendered 
himself in holy consecration, not simply to 
God, but also to the service of his fellow- 
men in God. From that hour his reso- 
lution dated. The call was heard. His 
response was announced. Christian duty 
became the rule of life, and an unequalled 
career began to open, with its splendid 
possibilities of grand and loving service. 

Can it be questioned that God's call an- 
nounced the service? Did it not face the 
child towards the events which were await- 
ing manly conviction and courage? Yet 
just what is evident in that notable life is 



22 The Sunrise 

evident to a degree in every other life. 
God calls children to himself in order that 
he may use them in his service. " We are 
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus 
unto good workSy which God hath before 
ordained that we should walk in them." 
The " good works " are always the ulti- 
mate reference. Childhood is prized by 
God not only for its own sake and for the 
sake of its personal salvation, but also for 
the sake of its usefulness. The children 
of the Church are the hope of the future. 
Trained in the fear of God, they may be 
expected to meet the demands of duty, 
and to lead the large and generous move- 
ments which are God's thought for the 
race. Looking back, we can see how this 
has been; and looking forward, w r e can 
believe that such leadership will have sim- 
ilar importance in the years to come. The 
youth of the past have been charged with 
the responsibility of suggesting and of 
forwarding our principal organizations, 
which seek the elevation and evangeliza- 
tion of mankind. God has called them to 
this service. They have been wiser than 



of the Day of Grace. 23 

they supposed themselves to be. What 
stirring events have waited upon the pray- 
ers of the young men who knelt beside 
the haystack at Williamstown, and there 
made the consecration which directed our 
country's interest in Foreign Missions ! 
What a splendid career was wrapped up 
in the call which made our friend Mr. 
William E. Dodge a child Christian ! 
How many of us enjoy the grateful con- 
sciousness of knowing that our lives were 
shaped by God's regard for us when we 
were quite young? He might say to 
us, as he said of old to King Cyrus : " I 
girded thee, though thou hast not known 
me." Thus every life is providential, just 
as every plant is dependent upon the 
heat and light of the sun. The life may 
be inconspicuous and humble; or it may 
be prominent and influential. The plant 
may become an oak, or its nature may 
be that of the violet. " God is girding 
every man for a place and a calling, in 
which, taking it from him, he may be as 
consciously exalted as if he held the rule 
of a kingdom." 



24 The Sunrise 

The call of God, at whatever age it is 
heard, contemplates the rectification of 
character and life. Character and life re- 
quire such a rectification. Explain the 
matter as we may, it is nevertheless true 
that there is disorder in human nature. 
The nice balance of the mechanism has 
been disturbed. The melody is inharmo- 
nious. There is evidence of the presence 
of disease. Just so soon as the so-called 
innocence of infancy has passed away, 
selfish and ungovernable traits begin to 
appear. A child need not be very far ad- 
vanced to manifest the fact that he is a 
little sinner. The actions are not those of 
a saint. Nothing but the reality of sin can 
explain the peevishness, the disobedience, 
and the fondness for naughty ways. Then, 
by and by, this mother's darling may 
exhibit a degree of violence which is start- 
ling, and the so-called innocence of in- 
fancy may be succeeded by the life of an 
Aaron Burr. There is no need that we 
should enter upon a discussion of the 
vexed questions of original sin and total 
depravity. Proof is not wanting of actual 



of the Day of Grace. 25 

transgressions, and the proof is furnished 
by the experiences of our common hu- 
manity. " There is none that doeth good, 
no, not one." In this particular there can 
be no exemption. The demand, " Ye 
must be born again," is of universal appli- 
cation. The innocence of infancy is a mis- 
nomer. There is no innocence. There 
never has been any innocence since the 
Fall. Our race can never hope to attain 
unto innocence. A superior opportunity 
is ours in the privileges of tried virtue 
which are presented by our Lord. 

This is the significance of the call. It 
is to rectify the disorder; it is to afford 
the true centre of crystallization; it is to 
present the proper standard; it is to be- 
stow needful grace, — that the Lord calls 
children. He wishes to mould and to 
fashion them properly. We speak of a 
state of nature, of the naturalness of sin, 
of wrong-doing, as an inevitable evil. In 
a certain sense we are right. Yet in the 
highest sense we cannot say that the nat- 
ural is the deformed, the diseased, the 
decrepit. Nature works towards an ideal 



26 The Sunrise 

perfection. A truly natural life would be 
an absolutely perfect life, like the life of 
Jesus. Now, this is what the call of the 
Lord contemplates. He wishes to take 
each one of us as we are, — sinful, disor- 
dered, diseased, — and to make us what 
we ought to be, — holy, disciplined, and 
useful. He plans to organize character 
anew, to direct its activities, to bring up 
its weaknesses and to enlarge its outlook, 
to enrich its estimates and to develop its 
energies, to make childhood a true and 
happy and beautiful childhood. Then let 
the child grow. His growth will be con- 
ditioned by his consciousness of God. 
Grace in his heart will become graces in 
his life. We shall want him to be natural, 
just as his Lord does. Samuel was not 
Eli, and he was not required to be. Eli 
was an old man, and Samuel was only 
a boy ; yet the boy had in him the mak- 
ing of a better man than Eli was. 

Our criticism of the religion of children 
must never make use of the estimates 
which may be appropriate to the religion 
of their parents. Children are unconven- 



of the Day of Grace. 27 

tional, outspoken, frank, and impulsive. 
They cannot restrain their feelings as older 
persons can. Their thoughts are very apt 
to be their actions. Yet how often we 
chide them for actions which are a hun- 
dred-fold better than our thoughts ! In- 
stead of treating them as children, instead 
of encouraging them to be sweet, lovely 
children, we lead them to believe that 
they must be as we do y not as we are. We 
can be quiet and demure and reverent, 
even if our minds are occupied with 
thoughts which make the Father's house 
a house of merchandise. Those were 
happy children who saluted Jesus in the 
courts of the temple at Jerusalem ; and 
yet the chief-priests and the scribes, who 
had tolerated the money-changers and the 
dealers in small wares, rebuked them for 
their disregard of the sanctity of the place. 
Alas ! we are mistakenly zealous for our 
Lord's honor. He will care for it himself. 
We need not fear. Most welcome to him 
is the joyous naturalness of youthful na- 
tures which have responded to the gentle 
call of his love. 



28 The Sunrise 

Little Majorie Fleming — Walter Scott's 
friend — went to heaven before she was 
nine years old. Yet she had heard and 
had answered the call of our Lord, and 
the charm of her life was the sweet music 
of the tuneful harp. Scott's friendship, it 
is true, has immortalized her name; and 
yet her simple Christian life has long time 
proved a beautiful witness to the reality 
of the religion of childhood. She was 
young, very young, when she learned the 
lesson, which older people are very slow 
in learning, that we are dependent upon 
God for the grace of each day. " I will 
never again trust to my own power," she 
wrote in her Journal; "for I see that I 
cannot be good without God's assistance. 
I will not trust in my own self." Could 
you ask for more? Can mature piety 
write a better sentence? Then let us un- 
derstand the call of the Lord, and let us 
always be considerate of the faith of little 
children. For the Master once said, — 
and how impressive are his words ! — 
" Take heed that ye despise not one of 
these little ones ; for I say unto you, that 



of the Day of Grace. 29 

in heaven their angels do always behold 
the face of my Father which is in 
heaven.'* 

But how shall it be known that children 
have been called by the Lord? We are 
not told how Eli was led to perceive that 
the Lord had called Samuel. I think, 
however, that we need not be at a loss 
to discriminate this divine call. The 
evidences of the religion of childhood are 
within our reach. We may appreciate, 
and may use them. 

They are not associated with a marked 
crisis. Childhood seldom dates its ex- 
periences from a vision on the Damascus 
Road. The youthful life has not been 
engaged in persecuting the saints. There 
has been no debauchery, no shame. The 
materials for a crisis are not present. The 
unfolding of a germ, slowly, gently, un- 
obtrusively, is the order. That germ is 
the call of the Lord, which has resulted 
in the genuine conversion of the child. 
At some time the Holy Spirit has renewed 
the nature, — when, you may never learn, 
unless the angels tell you, by and by, 



30 The Sunrise 

when they sang the song of this new birth 
in Christ. 

But if the date of the new birth is not 
recorded with pen and ink, the evidences 
of that supreme event will surely appear. 
What are they ? I reply that it would not 
be possible to enumerate them. We may, 
however, speak of three principal, dis- 
tinctive characteristics, which seldom fail 
to be noticed. 

An increasing conscientiousness. Some 
one has said that conscience is God's 
voice in the soul. We are certain that 
a sensitive, intelligent conscience is proof 
of godliness. The godly man distin- 
guishes between right and wrong, and he 
always aims to do what is right. Con- 
science is an old-time judge on the Bench, 
to whom questions are submitted for de- 
cision. The judge must be wise and 
honest if his decisions are to prove help- 
ful. An ignorant judge is useless, even if 
he is honest; and a wise judge is danger- 
ous if he is not honest. It is so with con- 
science. As a guide, it must be educated. 
Men may be perfectly conscientious in 



of the Day of Grace. 3 1 

believing a He, and entirely conscientious, 
as Saul of Tarsus felt himself to be, in com- 
mitting very great crimes. Religion edu- 
cates conscience. When, therefore, you 
discover that a child is increasingly and 
wisely and honestly conscientious, you may 
look for stronger evidences of the call of 
the Lord ; but you must look in hope. 

Repentance towards God. A Christian 
child will do wrong just as a Christian 
man will. He will get angry, and be sel- 
fish, and will strike his playmate, and 
will use many " words better left unsaid." 
Then he will be sorry; but his sorrow 
will quickly have an upward as well as 
an outward look. He will turn to God, 
as David did when he had wronged Uriah 
and his household, and he will say with 
David : " Against thee, thee only, have I 
sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." Re- 
pentance is the instinct of religion. When 
you observe repentance, then may you be- 
lieve that the Lord has called the child. 

Interest in sacred things, — the Bible, 
prayer, the services of the sanctuary, 
Christian society, benevolent work. This 



32 The Sunrise 

interest must develop. Gradually the 
Bible will exhibit its treasures, and they 
will be found to be personal. Prayer, 
too, will come to mean much more than 
saying a morning or an evening prayer. 
The services of God's house will ere long 
discover their profit and enjoyment. The 
friendship of good men and women will be 
especially prized. The question, " Lord, 
what wilt thou have me to do?" will find 
its way from the heart to the lips. 

We can well afford to wait, if we only 
wait with a welcome, and not with a frown. 
Our holy religion, the religion of Jesus 
Christ, is the sweetest, brightest, most en- 
joyable thing in the world. Old people 
cannot monopolize it; and they do not 
wish to do so. It is for children. It meets 
their wants ; it is essential to their happi- 
ness. To them it has the promise of the 
life that now is, as well as of the life which 
is to come. Little children, young men 
and maidens, our blessed Lord wants to be 
your friend. He asks you to receive his 
friendship. Do not reject him, do not live 
without him. 



of the Day of Grace. 33 



CHILDREN CALLED TO CHRIST. 

Like mist on the mountain, 
Like ships on the sea, 
So swiftly the years 
Of our pilgrimage flee. 
In the grave of our fathers 
How soon we shall lie ! 
Dear children, to-day 
To a Saviour fly ! 

How sweet are the flowerets 

In April and May ! 

But often the frost makes 

Them wither away. 

Like flowers you may fade : 

Are you ready to die ? 

While yet " there is room," 

To a Saviour fly. 

When Samuel was young, 
He first knew the Lord ; 
He slept in his smile, 
And rejoiced in his word. 
So most of God's children 
Are early brought nigh. 
Oh ! seek him in youth, 
To a Saviour fly. 



34 The Sunrise of the Day of Grace. 

Do you ask me for pleasure ? 
Then lean on his breast ; 
For there the sin-laden 
And weary find rest. 
In the valley of death 
You will triumphing cry : 
11 If this be called dying, 
3 T is pleasant to die." 

Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne. 



NOONDAY. 



And he said unto them, The kings of the Gen- 
tiles exercise lordship over them; and they that 
exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. 
But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest 
among you, let hi?n be as the younger ; and he that 
is chief as he that doth serve. For whether is 
greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth ? 
is not he that sitteth at meat ? but I am among 
you as he that serveth. — Luke xxii. 25-27. 



NOONDAY. 



STRENGTH means authority. The 
strong man will always be superior 
to the weak man. God has not made an 
equal distribution of the talents which are 
influential. " The rich and the poor meet 
together." Wealth is often an inheritance ; 
and again, poverty is transmitted from gen- 
eration to generation. There are names 
which are written upon every page of a 
nation's history ; and there are other names 
which have never been associated with a 
conspicuous action. Physical beauty is 
the equipment of only a few lives; and 
unusual moral force is a limited character- 
istic. The diversity of gifts which is ap- 
parent in every social organization affords 
no encouragement to the Communist, who 
expects to introduce the new heavens and 



38 The Noonday 

the new earth by his theories of equality. 
Men are not created equal, although the 
Declaration of Independence says that 
they are. The statement is an error. The 
start in life is never even. The advan- 
tages and the disadvantages are evident 
at a glance. What equality is there be- 
tween a little street-arab, whose parentage 
is unknown, and the child of a Christian 
home, whose sturdy ancestors for many 
years have felt the strong current of pure, 
honest blood in their veins? 

Strength has always asserted itself. It 
is natural to use it; God gives it for use. 
The command of armies and the ability to 
rule nations are a testimony to the su- 
perior qualities of men who have gained 
prominence. They have yoked their 
strength with their patriotism or their am- 
bition, and thus have driven themselves 
to the heights of fame. Born to lead, they 
have quickly accepted their birthright; 
and the world has been blessed or cursed 
by the exercise of their authority. Thus 
Alexander the Great spread the Greek 
culture over the Orient; and Julius Caesar 



of the Day of Grace. 39 

placed himself at the head of the Roman 
legions and made the City of the Seven 
Hills the capital of the world ; and Con- 
stantine gave Christianity an imperial re- 
cognition; and Charlemagne held back 
the barbaric influences which threatened 
to destroy the science, the art, and the 
religion of western Europe ; and Martin 
Luther struck the blow which shattered 
the despotism of the Papacy; and Napo- 
leon Bonaparte aroused France, and Eng- 
land too, from a lethargy which was the 
unthoughtful retention of a worn-out feu- 
dal system; and Bismarck compacted 
the German empire; and Lincoln made 
the freedom of America a grand reality; 
and Gladstone is braving the hatred of 
" the classes against the masses," that he 
may see justice done to Ireland before he 
closes his splendid career. 

But if strength means authority, — as it 
certainly does, — it is essential that the na- 
ture of the authority should be intelligently 
understood. What is it? "The kings of 
the Gentiles," said the Master, " exercise 
lordship over them ; and they that exercise 



40 The Noonday 

authority upon them are called benefac- 
tors. " Theirs is the authority of despot- 
ism, or, at best, of condescension. They 
are acquainted only with the heathen idea. 
Might makes right in their estimate. They 
have won authority, and so they will use 
it as they please. If they are considerate, 
then they are benefactors, rather than just 
rulers. Self is enthroned, even deified, 
and the worship of self goes on unceas- 
ingly. But it is very easy to burn a can- 
dle, or to scatter a little incense, or to 
offer a brief adoration to self, when strength 
has given authority. 

The Master, however, says : " No ; the 
heathen idea is a mistake. The authority 
of service is alone commendable. He that 
is greatest among you, let him be as the 
younger ; and he that is chief, as he that 
doth serve." His is the Christian law. 
Strength has always a ministry to fulfil. 
The truest dignity is found in the most 
abundant helpfulness. Let it be our aim 
to consider this law of the new kingdom in 
its statement, its principle, and its rewards 
and penalties. 



of the Day of Grace. 41 

The statement of the Christian law of 
authority. " I am debtor," writes Paul, 
" both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, 
both to the wise and to the unwise." The 
Apostle might have asserted himself. He 
was a recognized leader in the Church, yet 
he had " not so learned Christ." His 
opportunity increased his responsibility. 
" Not for that we have dominion over your 
faith, but are helpers of your joy," is his 
conception of the work to which he has 
been called. "We then that are strong 
ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, 
and not to please ourselves." Again he 
states his mind concerning the duties which 
engage him. As Peter has said in his 
epistle, no one is' to be a lord over God's 
heritage, but we are to be ensamples to 
the flock, constantly ministering, and that 
is always serving. The immediate dis- 
ciples of Christ tried to use every advan- 
tage of wealth, of knowledge, and of 
influence to make all men know how 
great is God's love, and how complete is 
the salvation of our Redeemer. There 
was very little selfishness among the early 



42 The Noonday 

Christians. They left home and kindred, 
they relinquished fortunes and life's com- 
forts, and then they went everywhere, 
preaching the word. " None of us liveth 
to himself," was their motto. The world 
was in ignorance and despair, and they 
were glad to bring the relief which their 
Lord had promised. Beautiful was their 
life, adorned by the self-denying virtues 
of a Barnabas, a Timothy, a Luke, and a 
Dorcas. 

They, however, were simply following 
in the footsteps of the Master, who always 
went about doing good. He might have 
excused himself. He was rich, and yet 
for our sakes he became poor, that we 
through his poverty might be rich. In- 
finite resources of power and glory were 
his when he took upon him the form of a 
servant, and was made in the likeness of 
men. From his throne he could look over 
the entire universe as his domain, he 
could call upon every force as his obedient 
servant, he could command the service of 
all finite intelligences as his right. "All 
power is given unto me," is his conscious 



of the Day of Grace. 43 

announcement, " in heaven and in earth. " 
We cannot estimate his wealth ; it is far, 
far above our finite understanding. Yet 
when he appeared among his subjects, 
what was his attitude? Did he bestow his 
blessings in a patronizing manner? Did 
he ever fail to convey the impression that 
he was here, " not to be ministered unto, 
but to minister"? "I am among you as 
he that serveth ; " and that not in any 
patronizing spirit, but cordially, grandly, 
intelligently. He had no desire to apolo- 
gize for his work; the work, such as it 
was, was in harmony with his nature. He 
was living a splendid truth, consequently 
he never held back from distress, never 
refused to comfort sorrow, never kept 
himself aloof or in reserve. " The ex- 
ample of Christ," says Canon Westcott in 
a recent essay, " so far as it is proposed for 
our imitation, is always the example of 
patience, of self-surrender, of serving, of 
suffering. The voice which calms and 
strengthens us is that voice of prevailing 
love which establishes its power on tender- 
ness, and its right to teach on humility. 



44 The Noonday 

1 Take my yoke upon you and learn of me/ 
Christ said, not because I am irresistible 
with the plenitude of divine might, not 
because I am omniscient with the fulness 
of divine vision, but ' because I am meek 
and lowly in heart.' " This is the key to 
the matchless life; only as we appreciate 
the naturalness, the sweetness, the benig- 
nity of the condescension, can we realize 
that " the Lord's words make clear beyond 
doubt that the blessing of power i is the 
blessing of great cares/ that the sign of 
authority is the readiness to serve." 

The principle of the Christian law of 
authority. Every substantial law must be 
the expression of a principle. Laws are 
often enacted by human legislation which 
are simply the arbitrary announcements 
of majorities. No true principle underlies 
them. They quickly exhibit their weak- 
ness and folly, and then they are repealed, 
or else disregarded entirely. No law can 
expect to secure permanent recognition if 
its principle is false. Sooner or later its 
reah character will be discovered. It is 
important, therefore, in every instance that 



of the Day of Grace. 45 

diligent inquiry should be made for the 
principle of a law; and if that principle 
stands out as a distinct truth of God, it is 
certain that the law announcing it will 
ultimately prevail. Principles are to laws 
what wheat is to bread. Laws may be 
modified ; their statements need adaptation 
to circumstances, just as bread will become 
stale, and as bread of one kind may not be 
equally palatable to all men. But prin- 
ciples may be utilized in many different 
ways, even as wheat may be carried to dis- 
tant continents and to islands of the seas 
for the bread-making of diverse nations 
and tribes. 

It is well, too, to realize that the great 
principles of the divine administration are 
the same in all the many departments of 
the government of God. In other words, 
God does not employ one set of principles 
in framing the laws of Nature, and another 
distinct set in forming the laws of grace. 
We in our limited range of observation 
have been inclined to separate the depart- 
ments of Nature and of grace : whereas, as 
we may learn from Psalm xix., they are 



46 The Noonday 

most intimately related. The same God 
rules over both, and the same principles 
obtain in both. u The heavens declare the 
glory of God ; and the firmament sheweth 
his handywork," — that is Nature. "The 
law of the Lord is perfect, converting the 
soul," — that is grace. The cross of the Re- 
deemer is the grandest known expression 
of the principle of mediation; and yet 
every student of vegetable and animal life 
knows that mediation is the basis of many 
an interesting law. Says Hugh Macmillan 
of Scotland : " The first animal that gave 
up its life to nourish the life of another was 
an unconscious type, like the murdered in- 
nocents of Bethlehem, of the Lamb slain 
from the foundation of the world. There 
is thus a sufficient family likeness between 
the types of God's word and the types in 
his works to warrant us in ascribing them 
to the same divine origin, and in believing 
that they refer to the same great object, 
which consecrates and ennobles them 
both." Such a recognition certainly does 
give us a firmer grasp upon eternal prin- 
ciples, and a renewed consideration for 



of the Day of Grace. 47 

their statements in forms of law. Chris- 
tianity is no longer to be looked upon as 
a surprise or an after-thought; it is a 
part of the economy of God, — an essen- 
tial part, towards whose glorious consum- 
mation " the whole creation groaneth and 
travaileth in pain together until now." 

What then is the principle of this pro- 
phetic Christian law of authority? The law 
is clearly written on the pages of the Bible, 
our statute-book ; and the records of Chris- 
tian living and of the life of the Master 
himself afford beautiful illustrations of the 
law as it stands for our obedience. Now, 
what is its principle? Shall we err if we 
state it in these terms? "Strength is for 
service ;" and that is true of all strength, 
as to quantity and as to quality. Strength 
means authority; and therefore the Chris- 
tian law of authority has beneath it this 
noble principle. When you were a child 
you had only a little strength ; a few pen- 
nies made up your income. You did not 
know much; you had few opportunities; 
and yet from the first you had some 
strength and some authority. How did 



48 The Noonday 

you behave? Were you ever taught that 
your childish strength was for usefulness, 
that such as it was, it was called to service ; 
or did you not get the impression that if 
you denied yourself a few candies, and 
gave your money to some poor person, 
you were doing a very admirable deed, 
and were, in truth, a benefactor? Were 
you trained to realize that every increase 
of strength means an increase of respon- 
sibility in its use, and that when we use 
our strength in service, we are simply 
doing our duty, nothing more? But a 
man's attitude is not that of a child. Man- 
strength is not child-strength. As we 
grow in years and stature, we accumulate 
resources of one kind or another, — knowl- 
edge, money, personal influence. Now, 
what of these? They must be used; and 
how? The heathen law and principle 
would counsel self-gratification. " Rise 
above your fellows/ 1 says heathenism, 
" and exercise lordship over them ; and if 
you consider them in any way, let it be 
understood that you are a benefactor." 
That is heathenism pure and simple, 



of the Day of Grace. 49 

whether you meet it in New York to-day, 
or read about it in Antioch as it appeared 
hundreds of years ago. Heathenism is for 
self, while Christianity is for others; for 
Christianity always commends the good 
Samaritan. It has no approval of self- 
love or of self-interest. It always urges 
us to consider the other man, and that 
not as a matter of favor, but of right. I 
do not think that Christianity wishes us 
to pose as benefactors or eminent philan- 
thropists, or anything of that sort. There 
is a great deal of selfish human nature in 
such posing. Christianity asks us all " to 
do justly," — that is the first thing; and 
then "to love mercy; " and finally, "to walk 
humbly with thy God." Ruskin has a fine 
remark in harmony with this thought. 
He says : " The one divine work, the one 
ordered sacrifice, is to do justice ; and it is 
the last we are ever inclined to do. Any- 
thing rather than that ! As much charity 
as you choose, but no justice. ' Nay/ you 
will say, ' charity is greater than justice/ 
Yes, it is greater; it is the summit of jus- 
tice; it is the temple of which justice is 
4 



So The Noonday 

the foundation. But you cannot have the 
top without the bottom ; you cannot build 
upon charity. . . . Do justice to your 
brother, — and you can do that whether 
you love him or not, — and you will come 
to love him." 

"Alas for the rarity 
Of Christian charity 
Under the sun ! " 

How little honest love there is between 
man and his brother man ! We are but 
playing with love when we talk and sing 
and act as we do ; our castles are all in 
the air; our love-pictures of an approach- 
ing golden age are the mirage of the 
desert. But Jesus was a practical re- 
former, and we may be sure that he left 
no plans for castles in the air. The mag- 
nificent structure which he planned is 
built upon the foundation of the apostles 
and prophets, Jesus Christ being its chief 
corner-stone. To this structure the prin- 
ciple, "Strength is for service" is essential. 
If we recognize the personal obligations of 
this principle, we shall be far on the way 
towards Christ-like living. 



of tie Day of Grace. 5 1 

For the perfect naturalness of this princi- 
ple is one of its distinguishing characteris- 
tics, — naturalness as respects its agreement 
with eternal truth and with the activity of 
God. It is natural that strength should 
serve. God is omnipotent, and who fails 
to enjoy the benefits of his service? " He 
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on 
the good, and sendeth rain on the just 
and on the unjust." He dispenses his 
bounty with an open hand. He is so mag- 
nanimous that he seldom makes us feel 
that he is doing some especial service. 
" Is n't it wonderful that he should treat 
us so ! " exclaimed the penitent whose 
heart had just been touched by the grace 
of God; and his negro slave, who had 
long time been a man of faith and prayer, 
answered promptly: " No, massa; it's 
just like him." Now, God's thought must 
be ours, and God's attitude must be ours, 
if we are to excel. His principle is to be 
expressed in our laws. " Strength is for 
service!' It must overflow in service, as 
the fountain overflows in fertility to the 
plain; it must bloom into service, as the 



52 The Noonday 

seed germinates, and finds the beauty of 
flower and of fruit; it must express itself 
in service, as a mother's love for a sickly- 
child accepts gladly the monotony of 
nights and days of confinement. Spon- 
taneous and cordial must be the service 
of Christian strength ; then, and not till 
then, it will conquer the selfishness of the 
world. 

The rewards and penalties of the Chris- 
tian law of authority. These are number- 
less. Some of them are known here in 
this world, and some of them will be 
known in the next. The " Come, ye 
blessed/' and the " Depart, ye cursed," of 
our Lord's great judgment-scene were pro- 
nounced in view of the uses of strength. 
" I was hungry, and ye fed me ; " " I was 
naked, and ye left me so." 

To the individual, the law means the 
very best of life's returns, or the worst. If 
he obeys the law, and lives as the Master 
directs, he will be happy and useful; 
whereas if he disregards the law and lives 
in opposition to its teaching, he cannot be 
truly happy, nor can he be useful, although 



of the Day of Grace. 53 

God may use him in spite of himself, even 
as he makes the wrath of man to praise 
him. 

Settle the matter early in life, my friend, 
and understand that you are here to serve. 
Such is your attitude as a human being. 
Do not think too much about philan- 
thropy, or about pity for the masses, or 
about your condescending to work for the 
ignorant; but just understand that you are 
to serve with such strength as you have, 
and to serve because it is the right and the 
manly — nay, the God-like — thing to do ; 
that any other conception of life is con- 
temptible ; that any other use of opportu- 
nity is heathenish rather than Christian; 
that every increment of strength, whether 
of money, of knowledge, or of influence, 
means new opportunity and a new call. 
Then the true self, that hidden man of the 
heart, will steadily expand; then the eye 
will grow brighter, and the range of vision 
will enlarge ; then God will be companion- 
able, and the things of God will be the 
enduring riches, whose enjoyment has 
eternity for its day. 



54 The Noonday 

But if it be otherwise, if you disregard 
the law of Christ, you must suffer, and 
suffer forever. With strength misused, 
with opportunities neglected, you may 
become very rich, and very learned too, 
and very influential, and exercise author- 
ity, and be accounted a benefactor, just 
as it was with the kings of the Gentiles 
in our Lord's day. But you cannot be 
happy, — with the Bible in your dwelling 
you cannot be happy if you live the heath- 
en's idea; and when you meet God, and he 
asks you why you have lived so, you will 
be speechless, with the Bible in your hand. 
Poor, mistaken soul ! there is no living 
over again a human life. Selfishness has 
commanded the service of strength, and 
this is the miserable end of the service. 
Speechless in the presence of God, the 
wretched soul is dismissed to the left hand, 
where the idea of heathenism must be in- 
corporated in many laws. 

To the community the law of Christ is 
the earnest of progress. If this law is dis- 
regarded, as it is, and as it has been for 
centuries, the many evils of our social sys- 



of the Day of Grace. 5 5 

tern are inevitable. We can make very 
little advance against crime and degrada- 
tion and poverty until we consider one 
another. Institutional charity, always pop- 
ular, is fairly good; but it does not begin 
to be as good as the personal, generous 
activity of unnumbered Christian lives. 
Let it be known, and widely known, that 
the law of Christ is to be operative ; that 
every man in authority, be he emperor, 
king, president, or governor, is conscious 
that he is only a minister ; that every man 
of wealth is convinced that he is only a 
steward ; that every man of intelligence is 
persuaded that he holds his knowledge in 
the service of his fellow-men; that every 
favored child is taught that he must think 
of those less favored, — and what a thrill of 
strange hope would pass over the world ! 
How the dwellers in wretched tenements 
would rejoice in the expressions of strong, 
rich sympathy ! How the oppressed and 
down-trodden masses of the old world 
would respond to a greeting which would 
seem like a stirring of the leaves after a 
long pestilential drought! How young 



56 The Noonday 

men and maidens would clasp hands with 
their seniors who could enter cordially 
into the feelings of the youthful heart ! 

" If the vision tarry, wait for it." And 
so we will. Christ's law is based upon the 
truth of God ; and that truth will prevail. 
Men will welcome it. Then it will assert 
itself; and finally its triumph will appear 
in a happy, prosperous, contented social 
order, which shall obtain in every quarter 
of the globe. 

There was once a queen — so runs a 
beautiful story of the children — who was 
sick with a painful malady, and whose re- 
covery was promised if the world's fairest 
rose could be found. This rose was to 
be the expression of the purest love. In 
every direction faithful subjects looked 
eagerly for roses, and the sick-room was 
fragrant with the perfume of their offer- 
ings. " The rose of first love was brought, 
and the rose of science, and the rose of 
maternal affection, and the rose of sorrow. 
But in vain. Health refused to come, and 
death seemed imminent. 

" ' I have seen at the altar,' said a pious 



of the Day of Grace. 57 

old bishop, ' the world's fairest rose. A 
band of maidens were at the Holy Table 
of our Lord to confess their faith; and 
among them was one whose simple purity 
was radiant with devotion, so that I felt 
that I was witnessing the truest love/ 

" ' Blessed, thrice blessed is piety/ re- 
plied the sage ; ' still, thou hast not found 
the world's fairest rose/ 

" Then came the little son of the queen, 
with glistening and tearful eyes and out- 
stretched hands, on which rested a silver- 
clasped book. 

" ' Mother, oh mother/ he exclaimed, 
1 listen to what I have been reading/ 
And he sat beside her, and read from 
the Book of Him who so loved the world 
that he gave himself up to death to save 
sinners. 

"And a faint rosy gleam passed over 
the queen's cheek, and her eyes grew 
brighter and brighter, and her limbs felt 
new strength, for there was wafted to her 
the fragrance of the world's Fairest Rose, 
— the Rose that sprang forth from the 
sacred blood of Calvary. 



58 The Noonday 

" ( I see it ! p she said exultingly as she 
sprang from her couch. ' Never can one 
die who looks upon that Rose, the fairest 
in the world. Justice is its strength, and 
love is its beauty, while grace is the per- 
fume which it freely scatters.' " 

" I am among you as he that serveth." 
Think of the Master; then use your 
authority as he used his. 



of the Day of Grace. 59 



WORK. 

What are we set on earth for ? Say, to toil, 

Nor seek to leave thy tending of the vines, 

For all the heat of day, till it declines, 

And death's mild curfew shall from work assoil. 

God did anoint thee with his odorous oil 

To wrestle, not to reign ! And he assigns 

All thy tears over, like pure crystallines, 

For younger fellow-workers of the soil 

To wear for amulets. So others shall 

Take patience, labor, to their heart and hand 

From thy hand and thy heart and thy brave cheer, 

And God's grace fructify through thee to all. 

The least flower, with a brimming cup, may stand 

And share its dew-drop with another near. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 



SUNSET. 



The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree : 
he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon, Those that 
be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in 
the courts of our God, They shall still bring forth 
fruit in old age j they shall be fat and flourishing ; 
to shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, 
and there is no unrighteousness in him, — Ps. xcii. 
12-15. 



SUNSET. . 



THE Psalmist must have had many aged 
friends whose lives were useful and 
beautiful in the service of God. His psalm 
is an accurate description of the origin and 
development of the graces which are the 
adornment of aged saints. The palm-tree 
and the cedar of Lebanon are his com- 
parisons as he indicates the method of 
growth whose perfection is so attractive. 
Nature asks for many years in which to 
mature the palm-tree or the cedar. They 
respond slowly to the influences of soil 
and climate. But their strength and fruit- 
fulness abide when other trees, " which 
spring as the grass," have decayed and 
perished. " The palm grows slowly," says 
Dr. Thomson in "The Land and the 
Book," " from generation to generation, 
uninfluenced by those alternations of the 



64 The Sunset 

seasons which affect other trees. It does 
not rejoice overmuch in winter's copious 
rain, nor does it droop under the drought 
and the burning sun of summer. Neither 
heavy weights which men place upon its 
head, nor the importunate urgency of the 
wind can sway it aside from its upright- 
ness. There it stands, looking calmly 
down upon the world below, and pa- 
tiently yielding its large clusters of golden 
fruit from season to season. They still 
bring forth fruit in old age." This in- 
telligent writer, so long a resident of Pal- 
estine, was on a visit to the cedars of 
Lebanon when he wrote that " these old 
trees around us, and most of those on 
the highest ridges of the mountain, ex- 
tending for several miles to the south, 
are genuine representatives of Lebanon's 
most ancient groves of cedars. There 
need be no hesitation in regarding them 
as the surviving descendants of those for- 
ests whence Hiram's skilled hewers of 
timber cut down cedar-trees for Solomon 
to use in building and beautifying the 
temple of the Lord at Jerusalem. They 



of the Day of Grace. 65 

have not died out or been replanted by- 
man since that distant day." 

Thus the righteous flourish and grow. 
Time leaves its marks upon them ; but they 
are marks of increasing vigor and useful- 
ness. " The young Christian is lovely, like 
a tree with the blossoms of spring; the 
aged Christian is valuable, like a tree in 
autumn bending with ripe fruit." Grace 
secures a mellowness of experience which 
God gathers for his own use in heaven 
when it is perfectly ripe. Meanwhile it is 
a witness to his fidelity, a little gospel in 
the life of holiness, " to shew that the Lord 
is upright." The aged servants of the Lord 
are here, amid the busy scenes of active life, 
to speak calmly and wisely of the deep sig- 
nificance which each event of life contains, 
to illustrate in patience and in hope the 
precious truths to which they have long 
time given their assent, and to prove a 
benediction of love and sympathy to the 
homes which are privileged to shelter them. 

" For age is opportunity no less 
Than youth itself, though in another dress ; 
And as the evening twilight fades away, 
The sky is rilled with stars invisible by day." 
5 



66 The Sunset 

In old age God's servants " shew that 
the Lord is upright " as they recognize 
the providential interest that has deter- 
mined their lives. It is perhaps an easy- 
thing to discover the providential interest 
of God in one or two of the ordinary events 
of life. There are many cheap interpreters 
who are ready to expound the thought of 
God. We listen with amazement to their 
familiarity, and even flippancy, and then 
regret that upon themes like these there is 
not more of reverence. The providence of 
God is a profound study which may prop- 
erly engage the thoughtful mind for a life- 
time. We are always inclined to accept as 
providential those circumstances which are 
peculiarly favorable to ourselves or pecu- 
liarly destructive to interests which we op- 
pose. The south wind which speeds its on 
our way may be a head-wind to our brothers 
who are seeking a warmer clime. Have 
we, therefore, the monopoly of providence? 
The dynamite which destroys a synagogue 
of .Satan may leave a sanctuary in ruins as 
well. Where shall we locate the provi- 
dence? The truth is that we need a wider 



of the Day of Grace. 67 

perspective. The lines of providential in- 
terest require time for their observation. 
It is not possible to estimate a life aright 
at the hour of death. The pen of the his- 
torian is constantly engaged in re-writing 
the verdicts of history. Popular idols are 
dethroned, and the misunderstood and 
misrepresented heroes are exalted. The 
holy apostles and our Divine Lord en- 
joyed very little of what we call fame 
when their earthly careers came to a close. 
The criticism of Judaea, of Greece, and of 
Rome was unfavorable to them. But their 
record was safe. They were discreet and 
honest. The future has more than vindi- 
cated them, as they have been assigned 
the highest places on the roll of fame. 

The need of perspective is met, as far 
as it can be, by God's aged servants. They 
occupy a vantage-ground. They can speak 
out of a large experience. When David 
says, "I have not seen the righteous for- 
saken, nor his seed begging bread," his 
remark has value, because he also tells us 
that he has been young, and is now old. 
His is the experience of one who has seen 



68 The Sunset 

many phases of life, and therefore it is 
valuable. The patriarch Jacob is led into 
the presence of the king of Egypt, and 
there he outlines his wonderful career 
from his childhood in the tents of Isaac 
to this hour in the palace of the Pharaohs. 
The old man is impressively eloquent as 
he points out the providences which have 
guided and blessed him. Pharaoh listens 
with intense interest, and accepts the bless- 
ing of Jacob at the close of their memor- 
able interview. The Apostle Paul, from 
the barracks of the Praetorian Guard in 
Rome, sends letters to his beloved Timo- 
thy and Titus and Philemon, and to many 
of the Oriental churches, writing appre- 
ciatively of God's tender care, which he 
has known " in journeyings often, in perils 
of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by 
mine own countrymen, in perils by the 
heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in 
the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils 
among false brethren. " " Being such an 
one as Paul the aged, and now also a pris- 
oner of Jesus Christ, ,, his testimony to the 
fidelity* of God carries with it conviction. 



of the Day of Grace. 69 

And what shall be said of the " beloved 
disciple, " who was kept here by the Mas- 
ter until the close of the first century as 
a beautiful specimen of holy living, and 
whose feeble voice was often heard in 
earnest commendation of the precious- 
ness of love? He was always mindful of 
11 the tenth hour " there by the River Jor- 
dan, which dated the beginning of those 
providences whose interest had never 
ceased; and that later hour on the shore 
of the lake which heard the announce- 
ment, " If I will that he tarry till I come, 
what is that to thee?" had been discover- 
ing its hidden meaning for more than fifty 
years. 

Thus faith is strengthened as God's aged 
servants speak. They view the path from 
the hill-top after they have crossed the 
meadow and the marsh ; they look upon 
the canvas when the artist has nearly com- 
pleted his work, and the thoughtful shades 
of expression are clearly visible; they read 
the journal when the last chapter is await- 
ing its final word. It is impossible for 
them to resist the conviction that the good 



70 The Sunset 

hand of our God has led them and sus- 
tained them and encouraged them. They 
can see that there has been a wisdom 
above their wisest plans. Dangers have 
been avoided, and temptations have been 
repelled. Calamities have failed of their 
purpose, and disasters have been converted 
into blessings. And now it is pleasant to 
look back and to speak of the goodness 
of the Lord, and still to believe that the 
past has been an earnest of the present, 
and is a pledge of the future. He who 
has been true to his word for threescore 
and ten years will not forsake his servant 
in the time of old age. For his promise 
is on record that ".even to your old age 
I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I 
carry you : I have made, and I will bear ; 
even I will carry, and will deliver you." 
God cannot forsake his servants. He must 
have an especial love for those who have 
loved him many years. This is the teach- 
ing of Providence, and our aged friends 
commend the lesson by the patience of 
their daily lives. Let us prize their in- 
struction. Our busy Western life is some- 



of the Day of Grace. 71 

what lacking in reverence. The Orient 
has more regard for the aged. But our 
Bible commands us to " rise up before the 
hoary head, and honor the face of the old 
man." It is a privilege unspeakable to 
have among us, not only little children, 
with their sweet, happy faces, but also the 
aged, with the sunshine of Heaven bright 
upon their countenances. Quietly wait- 
ing upon the confines of two worlds, now 
looking back to point out some impressive 
feature of the moral landscape, and again 
looking on to speak of "the city which 
hath foundations," an aged saint is the 
treasure of children and of children's 
children; as 

"... On he moves to meet his latter end, 
Angels around befriending Virtue's friend; 
Sinks to the grave with unperceived decay, 
While resignation gently slopes the way ; 
And, all his prospects brightening to the last, 
His heaven commences ere the world be past ! " 

The uprightness of the Lord is evident 
as the aged exhibit the practical value 
of divine grace. The grace of God is 
dependent upon his uprightness. The 
largest foundation-stone in the temple of 



72 The Sunset 

redemption is justice. If God is not faith- 
ful, what does it avail that he is merciful 
and kind? His mercy must rest upon his 
fidelity, and his kindness must rise upon 
his truth. When he speaks, God must 
always command faith in what he says. 
When he makes a promise, God must 
always convince us that he means to fulfil 
his word. This is one of the reasons why 
the love of God is so commanding and 
influential. It is not a mere sentiment. 
It is not divorced from other divine at- 
tributes. No one can trifle with it. For 
justice sustains love, as love tempers jus- 
tice. And the grace that pardons and 
saves a sinner when penitent has in it an 
element of severity that punishes guilt and 
turns away from the hard and the rebel- 
lious heart. Do we not read in Holy 
Scripture of " the Lamb of God which 
taketh away the sin of the world " ? And 
does not the sacred volume also make 
mention of " the wrath of the Lamb"? 
Jesus Christ the Saviour is considerate 
and tender in his offers of mercy; but 
when those offers of mercy are rejected, 



of the Day of Grace. 73 

he takes his place as judge, and the hands 
of entreaty become the hands of rejection. 
Now he calls, and says : " Come unto me, 
and I will give you rest." By and by he 
will speak in other tones, to say : " I never 
knew you ; depart from me ! " When the 
bridegroom was announced, the virgins ten 
arose and trimmed their lamps. But alas ! 
in that supreme hour there were empty 
vessels and no oil for the burning. As 
the bridegroom entered, there went in with 
him the virgins five who had oil in their 
vessels with their lamps. " And the door 
was shut." Then came the foolish vir- 
gins with sighs and lamentations over their 
folly; but the appeal was of no avail, " the 
door was shut." 

" ' Have we not heard the bridegroom is so sweet ? 
Oh let us in, though late, to kiss his feet ! ' 
* No, no ; too late ; ye cannot enter now.' " 

Grace has its limitations. God's Spirit 
will not always strive. There is an even- 
ing twilight and darkness to the day of 
divine compassion. 

God's aged servants are witnesses to the 
fidelity of his grace. They have made 



74 The Sunset 

trial of grace under a great variety of cir- 
cumstances. It has met their expecta- 
tions at all times. Polycarp of Smyrna 
was ninety years of age when the hand 
of the Roman persecutor was laid upon 
him. Descending to the portal of his 
dwelling, he invited the officers of the law 
to refresh themselves with food and drink 
while he craved an hour for quiet prayer. 
The beauty of the old man's life, fragrant 
with devotion and adorned with number- 
less acts of charity, softened the hearts of 
the officers ; and he was simply asked to 
say " the emperor, our lord," and to 
offer a sacrifice to the imperial deity. 
When he quietly refused, they became 
angry ; and when the proconsul besought 
him to regard his own gray hairs and to 
spare himself the humiliation and pains 
of martyrdom by cursing Christ, the brave 
old man replied in language which the 
Church has not been willing to let die: 
" Six and eighty years have I served him, 
and he has done me nothing but good; 
and how could I curse him, my Lord and 
Saviour?" Then they hurried him to the 



of the Day of Grace. 75 

stake and heaped fagots around him and 
kindled the fire while Polycarp prayed 
aloud : " Lord, Almighty God, Father of 
thy beloved Son Jesus Christ, through 
whom we have received from thee the 
knowledge of thyself, God of angels and 
of the whole creation, of the human race 
and of the just that live in thy presence, 
I praise thee that thou hast judged me 
worthy of this day and of this hour to take 
part in the number of thy witnesses in the 
cup of thy Christ." Could anything be 
more eloquent? Could the Gospel secure 
a more persuasive appeal? Here was an 
old man of blameless life enduring insults 
and intense sufferings for the sake of the 
Redeemer who had been true to him for 
six and eighty years. " What appeared 
the greatest thing to the Church," writes 
the historian, " was not the martyr's death 
of Polycarp in itself, but the Christian 
manner in which it was suffered. They 
expressed it as their conviction that all 
had been so ordered that he might ex- 
hibit what was the essential character of 
evangelical martyrdom." 



76 The Sunset 

The stake and the rack and the exile 
are of the past ; but the testimony of God's 
aged servants is of the present. We shall 
always need it, and it will always be at 
hand. No child can give it as the aged 
can ; for childhood lacks experience. Ex- 
perience alone can test and approve the 
grace of God. Experience, the Apostle 
Paul assures us, worketh hope ; but this is 
true only of Christian experience. The 
experience of the world worketh disap- 
pointment and misanthropy and despair. 
" Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," is the 
common testimony of men like Lord Ches- 
terfield, who know the world, and yet know 
nothing else. " But the path of the just 
is as the shining light, that shineth more 
and more unto the perfect day." " It 
shall come to pass that at evening time it 
shall be light." Then the aged servant of 
God speaks of the divine uprightness as 
he exhibits the adaptation of grace to the 
many joys and sorrows of his life. He can 
say, " I know both how to be abased, and 
I know how to abound." Poverty has 
been a companion, and then affluence has 



of the Day of Grace. 77 

been a friend. There have been days of 
sickness and nights of pain. More than 
once the dwelling has been darkened, and 
more than once the open grave has claimed 
the beloved dead. The experiences of life 
have presented their demands, and in 
every instance the grace of God has met 
them. Can this be said of any of our nu- 
merous philosophies? Is it true that in- 
fidelity touches life, in every emergency, 
with strength and comfort? Do not the 
emergencies of life silence the infidel? I 
have somewhere read of an infidel orator 
in the North of England who was accus- 
tomed to invite discussion at the close of 
his lectures. One evening, to his surprise, 
the challenge was accepted by a plain, 
aged woman, who arose and said: u I 
have only a question to put to you." 
"Well, my good woman," was the confi- 
dent response of the orator, "speak out; 
let us hear it." " Ten years ago, sir," said 
the humble servant of God, " I was left a 
widow with eight children utterly unpro- 
vided for, and nothing to call my own but 
this Bible. By its direction and by look- 



78 The Sunset 

ing to its God for help, I have been en- 
abled to feed myself and family. I am 
now tottering to the grave ; but I am per- 
fectly happy, because I look forward to a 
life of blessedness with Jesus in heaven. 
That J s what my religion has done for me. 
What has your way of thinking done for 
you ? " Ah ! my friends, that personal 
argument is irresistible. The infidel ora- 
tor tried in vain to meet it. The aged 
saint held him to the question, " What 
has your way of thinking done for you ? " 
and he was presently speechless. The 
Gospel, however, never shrinks from its 
logical consequences. It is safe to press 
it to its last results. You would cry out 
against me and rebuke me to my face if 
I should, here and now, say to you that 
there is nothing better for a man than that 
he should eat and drink and be merry, 
that the future life is a dream, that there 
will be no judgment-day, no heaven, no 
hell, that the worldly old man who has 
spent his years in the pursuit of pleasure 
is just as well off as the godly old man 
who has lived in obedience to the revealed 



of the Day of Grace. 79 

will of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every one 
knows that such statements are false. Yet 
alas ! how many of us contradict our 
knowledge by living for self and the w r orld 
for many, many years of this mortal life ! 
Poor old wrecks of humanity, how sadly 
they drift to and fro ! It is too late now 
to correct the mistakes of a lifetime. Youth 
will not return for the wishing. The irre- 
sistible pressure of time means the awful 
coldness of the grave, and that, too, soon. 
Poor, pitiable old men, " having no hope, 
and without God in the world," ye seem 
like beacons shedding a warning light to 
keep the mariners on life's stormy sea from 
the rocks and the quicksands of your pres- 
ent wretchedness. But it is not so with 
the righteous. They are convoys, rather 
than beacons; and as they light the way 
across the trackless ocean, many a young 
sailor steers his little bark in safety towards 
the " desired haven." 

In their calm and happy anticipation of 
the future, God's aged servants bear their 
testimony to the fidelity of the Lord. God 
has promised that we shall have " a good 



80 The Sunset 

hope through grace. " " But if in this life 
only we have hope in Christ, we are of all 
men most miserable. " It is true that our 
bodies become enfeebled by age. They 
wear out; the vital powers are exhausted. 
Nature expends her resources. And so 
the aged cease to live among us, and their 
faces and forms are sadly missed around the 
table or the hearth. Yet we have no hope- 
less sorrow concerning them; we would 
not keep them longer from the welcome 
and the crown if we had the power so to 
do. Already they have sent on the bet- 
ter part of their lives to await their com- 
ing ; and now they themselves have gone. 
Faith has found its perfect consumma- 
tion. Birth into this world anticipates the 
strength and beauty of mature years. The 
puny form of the babe is prophetic of 
vigor and usefulness. The prophecy may 
be defeated by sickness, or by casualty, 
and the babe may never reach the pro- 
mised stature. But in the new birth, whose 
prophecies take hold upon the life immor- 
tal,' there are no such disappointments. 
He who has " begun a good work in you 



of the Day of Grace. 8 1 

will perform it until the day of Jesus 
Christ." God's aged servants are familiar 
with their Bibles. They know their Sa- 
viour too, and are acquainted with his 
grace. And so they are very calm and 
hopeful as they say with Paul, " The time 
of my departure is at hand. I have fought 
a good fight, I have finished my course, 
I have kept the faith : henceforth there is 
laid up for me a crown of righteousness." 
We observe their composure, and are 
grateful that we have new evidence of 
" the power of an endless life." Yes, God 
is faithful; our aged friends are with us, 
still bringing forth fruit in old age, " to 
shew that the Lord is upright." Beautiful 
to look upon, like the palm-tree laden with 
its precious dates, like the cedar of Leba- 
non prepared for the adornment of kings' 
palaces, God's aged servants are the ben- 
ediction of the household, of the village, 
and of the sanctuary. Happy are the chil- 
dren who listen meekly to their wisdom 
and who are greeted by their smiles ! 
Happy are the strong men and women 
who can extend an arm for support and 
6 



82 The Sunset 

comfort, who can carry, in the tender- 
ness of filial love, to the confines of the 
world which has no feebleness, no trials, 
no old age, the dear parents who received 
them in infancy, and carried them so 
gently until they had learned to walk 
alone ! 

The Psalmist sings of the righteous, and 
describes the beauty of their old age. 
That beauty is not an accident, it is the 
expression of righteousness which has 
been carefully nurtured. The Psalmist is 
at pains to locate the righteous. " Those 
that be planted in the house of the Lord 
shall flourish in the courts of our God." 
First righteousness, — consecration of life 
to God through the mediation of his Son 
our Saviour ; and then nurture, — the plant- 
ing and the training in the Church which 
God himself established. The divine 
method is approved. Think not to dis- 
regard it. Your old age will be beautiful 
and useful and happy and hopeful if you 
give yourself to God in early life and ac- 
cept the culture which is found in the 
teaching of the Christian Church. 



of the Day of Grace. 83 

Our literature has no more beautiful 
sketch of an old man's life than that which 
Thackeray has given in his story of "The 
New-comes." Refined and purified by the 
discipline of suffering, with wealth stripped 
from him, and the friends of a lifetime in 
their graves, the patient hero seeks the 
quiet of Grey Friars Hospital as his last 
home on this earth. There, in the uni- 
form of the Order, he accepts a charity 
which he had aforetime been wont to dis- 
pense. With prayer and psalm he spends 
the days of his waiting upon God's call, 
still bringing forth fruit in old age. Then, 
as he becomes too feeble to rise from his 
couch, he listens to the summons of the 
chapel-bell, that he may unite in the daily 
devotions, until the end of life is reached. 
He is ready for his departure. " At the 
usual evening hour," says Thackeray, "the 
chapel-bell began to toll, and Thomas 
Newcome's hands outside the bed feebly 
beat time. And just as the last bell struck, 
a peculiar sweet smile shone over his 
face, and he lifted up his head a little, 
and quickly said 'Adsumf and fell back. 



84 The Sunset 

It was the word we used at school when 
names were called ; and lo ! he whose 
heart was as that of a little child, had an- 
swered to his name, and stood in the 
presence of The Master." 



of the Day of Grace. 85 



THE AGED PILGRIM. 

Thy mercy heard my infant prayer ; 
Thy love, with kind, paternal care, 

Sustained my childish days ; 
Thy goodness watched my ripening youth, 
And formed my heart to love thy truth, 

And filled my lips with praise. 

And now, in age and grief, thy name 
Doth still my languid heart inflame, 

And bow my faltering knee ; 
Oh, yet this bosom feels the fire, 
This trembling hand and drooping lyre 

Have yet a strain for thee ! 

Yes ; broken, tuneless, still, O Lord ! 
This voice, transported, shall record 

Thy goodness, tried so long ; 
Till sinking low, with calm decay, 
Its feeble murmurs melt away 

Into a seraph's song. 

Sir Robert Grant. 



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